GRANTS TO GREEN PROJECT

About the Atlanta REALTORS® Center

The Atlanta REALTORS® Center (ARC) was built in 1988 and is the home for over 16,000 REALTOR® members of the Atlanta REALTORS® Association, the Atlanta Commercial Board of REALTORS®, the Atlanta REALTORS® Educational Foundation, thousands of students of Capitus and nearly 50 tenants. It serves as a symbol that the REALTORS® of Atlanta are a vital part of the community with a facility to provide educational classes, meeting space and office space to the real estate community and public. We serve as a model and example for the highest standards in building excellence and tenant occupancy.

The Educational Foundation is governed by real estate leaders who have a tremendous sense of dedication and passion for our Building and our School. The leaders share a passion and commitment for our organization to confirm that sustainability is a critical initiative is a testament to the desire to keep our organization as a model for other REALTOR® organizations on a national level.

Support for Sustainability Improvements

In 2014, the Board of Trustees of the Atlanta REALTORS® Educational Foundation received a matching grant through the Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta and Southface to make energy improvements to our building, the Atlanta REALTORS® Center. Grants to Green provides environmentally focused knowledge and funding to strengthen nonprofits. This partnership between The Community Foundation and Southface gives metro Atlanta nonprofits the opportunity to renovate or build healthier work places that are energy, water and environmentally efficient. The ultimate goal is to improve a nonprofit organization's building structure to not only have less of an environmental impact, but also to increase the cost-efficiency of operations, ideally saving more finances to provide more services.

Impact to our Building & Community

To date, the Atlanta REALTORS® Center has experienced major changes in regards to improvements for sustainability. Our 40,000 square foot office building has now transitioned all lighting, internally and externally, with low energy fixtures and lighting controls. All incandescent lights and exit signs now have low energy fixtures and controls as well. This was a large project, involving all staff offices, tenant office and our classrooms. The restrooms now are equipped with motion-sensor appliances throughout. With the high level of traffic in our building, we are dedicated to recycle all paper and plastics after every event and meeting. Additionally, we have installed electrical outlets for the use by electric cars.

Energy Star Certified

In 2015, the Atlanta REALTORS® Center earned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) ENERGY STAR certification for superior energy efficiency. This certification signifies that the building performs in the top 25 percent of similar facilities nationwide for energy efficiency and meets strict energy efficiency performance levels set by the EPA.